Local junior footy coach glad Alan Richardson is taking the heat this week

A local junior footy coach says he’s glad that former St Kilda coach Alan Richardson has taken the attention of the footy media this week, as it somewhat masks the poor performance of his own team. Darren Hamilton, head coach of the Watsonia Wombats Under 13 side, claims the extra attention across town at Seaford might give him just the right amount of breathing space he needs to survive in his job for one more week.

As the U13 Wombats continue to collect devastating loss after devasting loss, Hamilton has found himself on increasingly shaky ground. Speaking exclusively to The Watsonia Bugle, Hamilton said, “Yeah, poor old Richo, but he’s actually done me a solid here. While all them media hacks are across town writing his obituary, I might get a clear headspace to work out how to beat the Eltham Eels this Sunday morning.”

While Hamilton said he was still likely to “give the boys a bit of a rocket at training tonight” in a desperate attempt to arrest their current nine-game losing streak, he insisted that this week’s focus on Richardson would ease some on the tension on his ability to retain his position. He said, “It’s like that old analogy that I like to tell the boys on game day sometimes. You don’t have to be faster than the big scary bear in the woods, you just have to be faster than the bloke next to you.”